Book Review: Another One Bites the Dust by Jennifer Rardin

After waiting so long to read the sequel to Jennifer Rardin's Once Bitten, Twice Shy, Another One Bites the Dust has been well worth the wait.

We met and fell in love with Jaz Parks, the bad-assed, larger-than-life protagonist, and her sexy vampire boss, Vayl, in the first book of the Jaz Parks series. In the first book, they had to save the world from a deadly virus and the soul-feeding Tor-el-Degan. In the midst of their mission, sparks – both the romantic kind and the friction kind – flew between Jaz and sexy Vayl. Of course, they managed to complete their mission successfully, although not without some really terrifying scares. We also learn a little bit about our characters' dark pasts, in particular, Jaz's tragic history.

In Another One Bites the Dust, Jaz is back and badder than before, Vayl is his gorgeous, brooding self, and the other characters, the Seer Cassandra, brilliant Bergman, and rookie Cole, have much more prominent roles.

This time, Jaz and her team have to kill Chien-Lung, an insane and extremely dangerous Chinese vampire, who is made much more dangerous because of the dragon armor he stole that makes him almost invincible. He's not the only enemy Jaz and her team face though, there are more soul-feeders, this time in the form of reavers, who kill innocent victims and eat their souls.

Another One Bites the Dust is not as light-hearted as Once Bitten, Twice Shy. It's almost as if Rardin and her characters have agreed to get more serious and professional after the dangers they faced in the first book. Jaz is still the colorful, ass-kicking character from Once Bitten, Twice Shy, but slightly more serious and quieter than before. Perhaps it's due in part to her having to face her personal demons from her past, and having to make some painful choices to be able to move on with her life.

Rardin again brings her characters vividly to life with her exceptional writing skills. Another One Bites the Dust is just as entertaining, if not more, than Once Bitten, Twice Shy and well worth the read. The only thing I'm just slightly disappointed with is the lack of developing romance between Jaz and Vayl. It's not completely lacking, there's still chemistry, but I wish Rardin will take it to the next level already. I think I may be feeling more frustrated that nothing's happening yet than Vayl might be. But then again, he's a 300-year-old vampire, so I guess patience is probably one of his strong points.

I'm eager to read the third book, Biting the Bullet, after this. Hopefully, something will happen with Jaz and Vayl finally, and if not, well, I'll content myself with sitting on the edge of my seat rooting for Jaz and her team to kick all the bad guys' asses to hell and back. After all, there's still hope for romance in the fourth book, Bitten to Death, and the fifth book, One More Bite in the Jaz Parks series, which are due to be released this August and next January respectively.

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About Betty Wong

Betty Wong grew up studying natural health and nutrition and is now a certified Master Herbalist. She believes that the health of the body, mind, and spirit are intrinsically linked and that nurturing all aspects of the self is essential to achieving true health. She is a naturally curious person who likes to ask questions and look for creative and unusual answers. She is also an avid reader and writer, and enjoys crafting in her free time.